Asia/Oceania Zone Group II: Saturday

MATCH REPORT

By

Jeff Ruffolo

Photo: Dwiari SetyadiSania Mirza (IND)

SHENZHEN, CHINA: In a battle of giants, certainly worthy of any centre court, India held on for a spectacular come-from-behind 67(7) 61 75 doubles victory over Hong Kong, China to capture promotion at the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group II event on Saturday.

“We are so excited, we won’t need an airplane to fly back to New Delhi”, said Indian captain Rohit Ralpal of his team’s wafer-thin victory, capping a two-game comeback in the third set.

The Indian pair of Sania Mirzi and Isha Lakhani overcame the challenge of Hong Kong duo Wing-Yau Venise Chan and Ling Zhang in a hard fought three-setter, eventually prevailing after 2 hours 15 minutes on court.

The start of today’s competition between these two budding tennis powers started with a straight sets victory for Chan over India’s 15 year-old teenage sensation Rutuja Bhosale 64 61. The second rubber saw a much different outcome with Mirza fighting off Hong Kong’s Zhang for a 75 06 61 win that leveled the tie at 1-1.

“You have no idea how big this victory in Shenzhen today means to the growth and development of our national team,” said Ranbir Chauman, Executive Director of Indian Tennis.

He added that the youthful Indian players, “will now go back to the gym and work their hearts out to be ready for Fed Cup next year and prove to everyone that India really does deserve to advance into Group I in 2013 and play with the big teams.”

Concluding the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II competition for 2012, the remaining nations were playing all for pride and to decide the final placings: Philippines beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1, Turkmenistan beat Singapore 3-0, Oman beat Pakistan 2-1, and Sri Lanka beat Iran 3-0.

Click the link below for more information about Asia/Oceania Zone Group II, including individual results from each tie.